Truth, Lies and Fairies
by Mayredria
Summary: Seaquest crossover with Hook/Peter Pan. An angst-driven adventure not to be missed. Most characters, mainly Lucas. High rating for later parts.
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING ELSE TO DO WITH SEAQUEST, HOOK OR PETER PAN. THIS STORY IS NON PROFITABLE AND IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOUSES ONLY.  
  
HI EVERYONE! THIS IS MY FIRST STORY SO I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. PLEASE R & R, I'D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.  
  
STORY ISN'T SET IN ANY PARTICULAR SEASON, SO CHARACTERS ARE A BIT MIXED. IT ISN'T NECESSARY TO KNOW THE PETER PAN / HOOK STORIES TO READ THIS, ALL IS EXPLAINED.  
  
The tiny fairy flew across the water as fast as she could. She was picking- up the strongest feelings of pain and loneliness she had felt in a long time - a lost boy. A boy who was unhappy and needed her help, who she would take back to Never Land, her home. That's what she did - help boys who were lost in the world by taking them to her world to live with others like themselves, where they could be happy again. Unfortunately she couldn't tell where the feelings were coming from, and she had run out of time to look. Morning was coming and without the stars to guide her, she wouldn't be able to find her way home. It was time to leave. She would come back again soon, and would always make sure to fly the same way until she either found the boy or made sure he was happy and didn't need her.  
  
* * * ONE YEAR LATER  
  
Her wings flapped frantically as she fritted about above the land. She had been up all night looking for lost boys, but thankfully that night it seemed everyone was happy and so she began her journey back. She flew low past the dock, which she noticed had a large crowd gathered on it, and was highly decorated with balloons and banners reading "happy anniversary" and "welcome home". The people were setting up tables with bottles of champagne and candles on them so that they could see through the dark night. She continued to fly far across the sea, and was about to head upwards into the sky when she was overcome with a feeling of pain and loneliness. But this wasn't just any feeling; it was the same feeling that she had gotten exactly one year ago. The signals she was getting this time were nowhere near as strong, but there was no mistaking it - it was the same boy. She watched the water carefully looking for signs of life, and was surprised when she didn't see a person, but in fact a huge object coming towards the surface. She looked on, confused, as it cruised the surface slowly in the direction of the docks. Too big to be an animal she thought, but then that only left a ship of some sort - nothing else could travel in water like that. She realized that this ship was where the feelings were coming from, and suddenly she knew why. Only one type of people had ships that big.pirates. She had thought that pirates only existed in Never Land, but this was the only explanation she could think of for such a strange looking ship. If she was right, then the boy was in more trouble than she had first thought, and it was time for her to put an end to it. The fairy shot forward like a shooting star, leaving a trail of gold dust behind her. When she reached the top of the ship she began to check it for some kind of entrance. She didn't have time to wait for it to reach the docks, and she couldn't be sure it was even going there anyway. It could easily just disappear under the water again. She was going in.  
  
* * *  
  
Lucas was sitting on the side of the moonpool with one hand circling the surface of the water in a lame attempt to play with Darwin. He had so much on his mind at the moment that he had almost gone into a trance, and didn't realize that someone was actually standing behind him. He felt a hand on his back, bringing him back to reality and making him jump so much that if the person behind hadn't reached out to catch him he would have fallen straight into the pool. He quickly righted himself and looked-up to see the Captain staring at him with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Sorry.I thought you heard me coming."  
  
"Not exactly."  
  
"So you wanna tell me what's going on?"  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I mean you've been in here on your own nearly all day, you were a million miles away when I came in and you were supposed to meet Dr. Westphalen in the labs to clear up the equipment half-an-hour ago."  
  
"Sorry, I guess I forgot. I'll go down there now."  
  
He started to head for the door but Bridger put out a hand to stop him.  
  
"Not so fast kiddo. Now I know something's not right with you, but I also know that no matter how much I ask you're not gonna tell me."  
  
"So."  
  
"So that's it. I'm not going to hassle you because I know I'm fighting a lost battle. What I am going to say is try to enjoy yourself. This is supposed to be a celebration you know! A whole year at sea - the maiden voyage of the best ship in the ocean. Besides, I thought you'd be happy to be going home and seeing your parents again."  
  
This made the boy smile.  
  
"Yeah, I am."  
  
"Good. Now, go help tidy-up the labs then come down to the mess and enjoy the party.that's an order."  
  
He smiled at Lucas and left the room. Darwin swam up to the surface.  
  
"Lucas lie."  
  
"Yeah, well sometimes it's the best thing to do."  
  
"Darwin not understand."  
  
"There's no point ditching your problems on other people when you don't have to."  
  
At that he grabbed his hoody and pulled it on before making his way towards the exit, but as he neared the doors he heard a scraping noise and a crash behind him. He turned around to see that on of the diving packs had fallen off the wall. He figured someone hadn't hung it up properly, and went to put it back. When he turned to leave again he noticed the doors were shut. He pushed the button for the doors to open but was surprised when they didn't. He tried again but still nothing happened. Deciding it must be one of the crew playing him up he called through to the other side. When no response came back he tried to manually force the doors open but found they still wouldn't move. Eventually giving up he slammed his hands into the doors and spun around to face the room again, leaning back against the doors in defeat. Now he was going to get another lecture from Bridger about not turning up at the labs again, and he was going to miss the party - which he was actually looking forward to. His thoughts of the party were cut short though by the sound of the cover closing over the moonpool, and a low humming noise that he hadn't heard before.  
  
"Who is that?"  
  
He couldn't see anyone in the room, but moonpools don't close themselves and the doors to this room were never locked - even at night. Lucas knew there would be a perfectly logical explanation for what was happening, he just didn't know what it was yet. The humming sound seemed to be changing directions rapidly, so Lucas couldn't see where it was coming from. His eyes scanned the room looking for answers, but found none. Things were starting to get scary now, so he decided it was a good time to try the doors again. The lights flashed.went out. Even the lights on the computers and equipment had disappeared. The only light that could be seen was a small, bright glow moving slowly towards him. The humming had turned into more of a flapping noise, and Lucas could now see why. Hovering in front of his face was what could only be described as a fairy - but fairies don't exist.do they? He leaned in to take a closer look at the thing in front of him. Yes, he had been right with his first guess. It looked human, well except for the glowing, the wings and the overall size of it. The little fairy must have been no bigger than his hand. He also noticed that in a way it kinda reminded him of Hitchcock - bright blue eyes and about the same age, although the hair was totally different and you'd never catch Hitchcock in a dress that short.  
  
This had to be Ben's doing. He couldn't imagine Ben leaving the sub without one last prank; after all, it was a special occasion. He had expected the man to try something a bit more extreme than a hologram though, this wasn't his usual style and he must have realized Lucas would've worked it out being computer related. Lucas put out a hand to test his theory, expecting it to pass right through the fairy. He was surprised to find that it didn't and he ended-up pushing it backwards to which it retaliated by kicking his hand. He was about to come back at it with a nasty comment but stopped when he realized what had just happened, and that this "fairy" might actually be a fairy.  
  
She had to laugh when she saw the expression on his face. It was one she had seen many times before with other children, but she still found it funny.  
  
"Yes I'm a fairy, yes we do exist and just incase you were wondering, my name's Tinkerbell. What's yours?"  
  
"No way." was the only response she managed to get out of him, he was too stunned to even think about answering the question. In fact, he had been so entranced in the fact that the thing was talking at all that he hadn't even registered a question had been asked.  
  
"Strange name - not something I'd want to be called, but."  
  
"Lucas." He came out of his little daze and cut her off mid-sentence.  
  
"Now that's more like it, easier to say."  
  
"Yeah? Well you haven't heard my surname."  
  
Lucas couldn't believe what he had just done. Was he actually making conversation with this thing?  
  
"So you think I won't handle it? Try me."  
  
Now he knew he was going crazy. He had just been challenged by a fairy and he was actually going to respond to it.  
  
"Wolenczak."  
  
"You win. Let's just stick to Lucas. Anyway, we'd better get going."  
  
"What do you mean? Going where?"  
  
"Never Never Land of course! Trust me you'll like it."  
  
Lucas didn't like the sound of this. Whoever heard of a place called Never Land?! Well, wherever it was it definitely wasn't on the sub.  
  
"I'm fine here thanks. Actually I should be going. There's somewhere I'm meant to be right now and the Captain'll kill me when he finds out I'm not there, so would you mind unlocking the doors."  
  
"Hey, you're not going anywhere except with me."  
  
"But either way, you still need to unlock the doors.right?"  
  
"Wrong. What's the point in unlocking the doors when we're going out through there?" She pointed up towards the ceiling hatch, which Lucas now noticed was completely open. "Well, off we go, times running out."  
  
She flew down to him, grabbed his sleeve and began to drag him towards the back wall. OK, now he was convinced - it did exist, it was real and it was unfortunately stronger than him. Lucas tried to shake her off but she wouldn't let go. He knew that he wasn't particularly strong anyway, but this was getting ridiculous - he was being outdone by a bug! She had dragged him almost to the back wall now, which had taken a lot longer than she had expected because of the resistance he was putting up. Usually they just came with her voluntarily, but this one was going as far as to dig his heels into the metal grate floor as hard as he could to try and stop her. Lucas knew he wasn't tall enough to reach the hatch anyway, so he wasn't worried about having to go anywhere with her, but he still thought that now would be a good time to put an end to this.  
  
"Hey! Will you get off already?!"  
  
She didn't pay any attention to him, and continued to drag him even to the point where he was sure he felt his feet actually leave the floor.  
  
"Holy.shit." were the only words that he could get out now. That was it, he'd had enough. He pulled himself away as hard as he could, sending the unexpecting fairy off balance. She swung around fast, letting him go and inadvertently throwing him into the back wall. He smashed head first into it making the little fairy cringe.  
  
"Sorry!" She said as he grabbed his head, half dazed and not really knowing what was going on. When he pulled his hand back he could just about make out a red patch which he guessed was blood, although he couldn't trust his eyes at the moment as he found himself seeing three moonpools and about ten fairies.  
  
"I don't know why you're fighting me but I only want to help. You'll just have to trust me."  
  
The next thing he knew he was on his back on the floor. The fairy had actually grabbed his ankle and pulled his feet out from under him. Lucas was still dizzy from his little encounter with the wall, and was in no state to try and put up a fight now. She grabbed the bottom of his trouser leg, which she noticed was falling apart and soaking wet from being scuffed along the wet grated floors of the moonpool. Bridger was always moaning about the state of his wardrobe and the fact that these were the shortest and smartest pair of jeans he owned and they still dragged on the floor covering most of his shoes. He liked to wear baggy, skater style jeans because it was handy for getting him out of UEO functions and official meetings. The fact that it really annoyed Bridger was just an added bonus.  
  
The fairy now flew upwards still holding his trouser leg so that he found himself hanging upside down in mid-air. He had had trouble standing-up straight after that head injury, but being upside down completely threw his senses and he finally lost his battle with both the fairy and consciousness.  
  
TBC. 


	2. c2

Firstly, I don't own SeaQuest or Hook or Peter Pan or anything to do with them. Totally non-profit - just me messing around and having a bit of fun (very slowly).  
  
Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted this! Y'all have good reason to moan at me on this one, but here it finally is, chapter two, and it's a bit of a long one so I hope you like it. All reviews welcome, I love to know what you think! Thank you to all reviewers so far, glad you're liking the story =) Lots of tech stuff in here - you know, explanations and that stuff - had to be done. Big thank you to Frankie for getting me back on track with the story n hope the exams went good for you too =) Enjoy.  
  
Okay, so he had made his peace with the fairy for making him miss the party and throwing him into a wall, and he had finally accepted that she was in fact a real fairy.but dropping him 50 ft into some unknown ocean in the middle of a thunder storm just for him to be hauled out by a group of very angry looking men with eye patches and swords.too far. He couldn't wait to see that annoying little bug again - boy did she have a lot to answer for this time! Of course this was all dependant on them actually letting him out of the cargo hold / prison cell type room they had thrown him into. Thankfully from what he had seen it looked like he was on a ship of some sort, although everything was made of wood, like the kind you only see in history books. He knew he had to be somewhere below deck as he could see shadows as people moved across the decking above, plus there was a constant stream of water running in from the big storm that was going on at that moment. Normally he would be complaining by now and trying to formulate an escape plan, but after seeing the men who had brought him in - well, rather in here than out there if you get the picture.  
  
* * * Bridger held his arm to him as if it were about to fall off. He was seriously regretting accepting Noyce's idea to give a personal 'goodbye and good luck' and a 'see you next tour' handshake to every crew member as they left the party. Now the only ones left on the docks were Bridger himself and the rest of the senior crew. Noyce had escaped the party about half an hour earlier after seeing the scowl Bridger was giving him as he said goodbye to another set of crew members. He turned around to face the barrage of empty bottles and mess that had once resembled a Navy docking port, sighing heavily as he thought of the clearing up that was sure to become his job the next day. Looking at the small group of people that was now left, he picked up the one remaining full bottle of champagne and began passing it around.  
  
"Well I was hoping to make one last toast with everyone together but I can see that we're missing a few people. Does anyone know where the others are?"  
  
"We sent Ben to look for Lucas about an hour ago but he never came back so Ford went to find them both .but he hasn't come back either. He did call Crocker down there not long after he went though." Katie replied, although wishing she had a better answer for him as she watched the confusion cross the Captain's face.  
  
"So let me get this straight, we're now missing four crew members due to unknown circumstances because they're running around a boat that is not meant to be boarded again until at least Monday morning when the team come to start repairs and move Darwin, with the only exception being luggage collection from the main entrance. The security guards are going to love this one."  
  
At that Bridger took out his pal and called Commander Ford.  
  
"Commander could you please round up the rest of the crew and return to the docks immediately."  
  
"I'm sorry Sir but that's not possible at the moment." Came the swift reply from the Commander. "We're experiencing some technical difficulties down here but I'm sure its nothing to worry about."  
  
"What sort of 'technical difficulties' exactly are we talking about here?"  
  
"Security mainly - door controls and a couple of system failures and inconsistent readouts. We could use an extra hand though if Lucas is still around up there."  
  
Bridger looked questioningly at Katie who seemed to mirror his expression.  
  
"I was under the impression that he was already inside with you."  
  
The pal remained silent for a few moments before Ford answered again.  
  
"No sir, when we couldn't find him we just assumed he'd taken a different route and gone up to join everyone else. We would have checked but the problems down here seemed to need more urgent attention."  
  
Tim looked up from his pal after anticipating the Captain's next move, only to have to report back that Lucas wasn't answering.  
  
"Captain, we're getting some unusual findings here. I think you should come down to the Moon Pool as soon as possible - but use the side hatch entrance. Ford out."  
  
"I don't know about the rest of you but I don't like the way that sounded. I think we should all go down there unless anyone has any objections - you're working in your own time now we're docked so this is completely voluntary work."  
  
Before Bridger had even finished his sentence the rest of the crew were already making their way inside. He had to laugh at this. For a crew who had been complaining for so long about the absence of shore leave they seemed very keen to stay onboard. It seemed that over the last few months the SeaQuest had become more of a home to them all than their actual homes.  
  
As they began their descent back into the ship everyone remained silent. All had questions, mainly involving Lucas's whereabouts, but they chose to remain quiet until they found out what they were about to walk into. They all knew it had to be something serious if the Captain was being called in after shore leave had officially started.  
  
* * * Lucas stood up slowly and looked to the decking above to where the rain had now stopped coming in but also where all light was now being blocked out by the crowd of people gathered on it. Their loud chattering was abruptly turned to a chant of the word "hook" which was becoming increasingly louder and faster. The chanting was eventually stopped and followed up by cheering, silence and a singular shout of "bring forth the prisoner!" Lucas froze wide-eyed. He really hadn't seen that one coming. Taking it as his cue to hide, he turned around to look for some kind of cover in the dark room. Even before he had started walking though the trapdoor in the decking above flew open allowing a man to drop down into the room and he found himself face to face with the barrel of a large, antique looking handgun.  
  
* * * "What's the situation Commander?" Bridger asked upon entering the room. As far as he could see nothing was wrong and everything looked just the same as it always did.  
  
"I know what you're thinking sir but the room didn't look like this when we came in. We had to get the chief to give us security clearance for the side hatch because it appeared the main entrance doors were locked. When we did finally get in here though we found that all power to the Moon Pool had been cut off so locking the doors would be impossible."  
  
"Wait, slow down. How is it possible to stop power to only one room without it being noticed or controlled by the bridge?"  
  
"By using the main control unit behind that wall panel there. The cover was on when we found it, just as it is now, but every single wire in there has been cut through. It would have taken out everything in here from lights and heating to communications. We're working on repairs at the moment but until maintenance can get here our only way to fix the wires back together is by using electrical tape, which won't hold for too long. We've managed to restore lights and a few other main systems but the rest will have to wait."  
  
At that moment Ben appeared at the door yielding a very large electric saw which caused some very uncertain looks to be cast in his direction. Judging by past experiences Ben was not the kind of guy you trust with anything expensive or dangerous, and this particular piece of equipment fell into both categories. He made his way over towards the pool preparing the saw as he walked, but was stopped by Bridger who quickly intervened and stood in his way.  
  
"Whoa there Mr. Krieg. Maybe you'd like to explain this before you start chopping up my Moon Pool."  
  
Ford stepped in and removed the saw, placing it on the floor against the back wall.  
  
"As I was saying, the locks can't be operated without power but both the pool and the main doors are shut tight. Its like they've been forced together so hard that the metal has sealed itself. The only way to get them open now is to cut through. What's strange though is that looking at the way the metal has moved I'd say this happened from the inside."  
  
"This makes no sense. Nothing on this ship is strong enough to do that and as for the power, whoever cut it was either very clever or very fast to have not been electrocuted. As to the why this has happened and where is the one responsible for it I'm open for suggestions if anyone has any."  
  
"The room was empty when we got here, I'm certain of that. The only other way of getting out of here would be through the ceiling hatch but all of those were sealed up long before the first tour. They were only ever built in to help the design process and can't be opened anymore. If it has been opened recently then there should be a trace signal on the sensors that will tell us when it happened, but it wouldn't have been picked up at the time it was actually open."  
  
"Check it." Came Bridger's stern reply as he glanced over to Ortiz who immediately obeyed and took off towards the Bridge.  
  
"I also called the officers assigned to duty for this room in the last few hours. They said that they came down to check it not long after the party had started but they found the doors locked and assumed the room had already been shut down in preparation for our arrival at the docks as several other rooms already had."  
  
The Captain thought over this information, understanding the officer's reactions as he remembered that he had ordered certain rooms to be shut down early, unfortunately this not being one of them. He thought back to where he would have been at that time, realising that he had in fact been in the Moon Pool around that time, right before it would have been checked.  
  
"If I've worked out the timing right then I was in here right before all this happened. I came in looking for Lucas to tell him to turn on his pal and go see Dr. Westphalen, and then to get to the party. We were the only ones in here at the time so when I left it would make sense that he would have been the last one in here."  
  
"Well he wasn't at the party, not the one in the mess or at the docks. We just guessed he was last minute packing or something, and that's why we hadn't seen him."  
  
"He never showed up at the labs either. Half the equipment still hasn't been packed away because of it. I was just so mad at him for not committing to his responsibilities that I didn't even stop to think where he actually was. Nathan what if something happened to him? Where could he be?"  
  
Kristen didn't want to panic anyone but she couldn't help letting her worry show. Nathan was however keeping a level head about the situation. Knowing that the lack of power would have cut off the security cameras inside the room, he turned and asked Crocker to bring-up the data from the cameras in the corridor, that way they could see who had entered and left the room. What he saw on the screen though wasn't what he was hoping for. He watched as an image of himself left the room, and the doors close behind him. He then saw the two Officers check the doors and walk off, but what he hadn't seen was Lucas leave the room.  
  
"That's impossible. If Lucas didn't leave the room then he would still be in here, which he obviously isn't. We know he didn't have security clearance for the other exit and the sensors would have picked it up if it had been opened anyway. I think its time we cut open Darwin's pool and see if the dolphin saw anything we didn't. In the meantime if Tim could try Lucas on his pal again and someone could get a ladder and take a look at the ceiling hatch please."  
  
Nathan was now beginning to feel the same worry Kristen had shown earlier, which he could also see was becoming more obvious in the rest of the crew as well. This worry only escalated when he saw Ben replace the saw he had just picked-up and move closer to the back wall, staring intently at a mark they had all failed to notice until now.  
  
"Sir, there's blood on the wall over here."  
  
"Lucas's pal is reading as out of range."  
  
"And this ceiling hatch has been pulled open and re-sealed just like the doors, except this time from the outside." Ortiz called down from the ladder.  
  
"What?! Okay, one issue at a time here people. Firstly lets deal with the hatch. All signs point to someone or something coming in through it from outside, but with the speed we were travelling there is no way anything would be able to do that even when we surfaced. Any vehicle in the area while we were moving whether it be sea or air would have been detected on the bridge and looking at these sensor readouts it seems that the short time the hatch was open was in fact while we were moving."  
  
Crocker stood shiftily at the back as the Captain talked. Security was his area of expertise, but this was more than he could handle and he thought it about time he spoke up.  
  
"Cap, not meaning to make the situation any worse or anything but this all has a really bad aura to it if you ask me. You got power cuts, moulding metal, disappearing kids and now blood, this thing can only get worse you listen to me, we're meddling in things we ain't oughta be messing in here."  
  
"Maybe so, but like you said we've got 'disappearing kids' or kid to be more precise and even if we ignore all these other things we're still down a crew member and we're not going anywhere until we've got to the bottom of this. I suggest we start by analysing that blood - that is if there's enough equipment left out in the lab."  
  
Kristen nodded in response and began to make her way across the room when the lights went out again, followed by the sound of doors closing and the power shutting off. Seeing the panicked look on everyone's face before the lights went out, mainly Crocker's, he decided that now might be a good time to explain what had just happened.  
  
"Don't panic, its only a powerdown. Being the time that it is now I'm guessing that UEO security was dispatched to lock up the SeaQuest for the night which unfortunately for us means we're stuck in here until maintenance come and open her up again. Any form of communication will have been blocked by the lack of power which should hopefully return tomorrow morning, but which also means that all investigations on our part will have to be put on hold. I suggest you make yourselves comfortable; it looks like we're sleeping in here for now. Just be sure to stay away from all main entrances and exits as that's where the alarms are situated and even though we want someone to come and let us out of here I don't think we want to alert half the UEO and start a city-wide panic which is what will happen if the alarm is triggered."  
  
Kristen walked over and sat beside what looked like Nathan, although the darkness was making it hard to see anything.  
  
"What about Lucas? What if that blood is his? Shouldn't we be doing something?"  
  
Nathan slipped an arm around her shoulder while he thought about how to answer, as these were all questions he too was asking himself. Sighing heavily he gave the only answer he could given the circumstances.  
  
"There's nothing we can do, not at the moment anyway. We can't go around looking for a missing teenager when we can't even see each other - its pointless and we'd only probably end up losing someone else in the process. Besides, I think we've already established that he isn't anywhere on the boat, but then again we also know he didn't leave because we would have seen him on the docks, and he would have had to walk right past me to get off."  
  
"Do you think he's alright?" Came a question from the darkness.  
  
"Sure, you know Lucas, he can get himself out of any situation.whatever it may be." The Captain replied with uncertainty lacing his voice no matter how much he tried to suppress it. With wide eyes fixated on the wall where they had found the blood patch, he leaned back into the side of the moon pool in an attempt to get some sleep, hoping his silence would inspire the rest of the crew to do the same, although knowing it wouldn't be easy.  
  
* * * Outside the SeaQuest a man got out of his car and looked around the dock. Seeing no one around, he moved towards the entrance and peered inside. The entrance had been left wide open for anyone to just walk in, but still he was unsure as to whether to enter the ship. He cautiously put one foot on the steps that led down inside to where he could now see a large pile of luggage in the corridor. Smiling to himself at his own nervousness he made his way down the rest of the stairs and stood by the bags. Calling out as loud as he could in search of anyone that remained onboard, he got no reply and proceeded to bend down to kneel beside the luggage. He filtered through the bags looking one by one at the name tags on the handles and testing the weight, that was until the lights went out, the doors to the outside world shut and the power went off. Jumping-up he ran up the staircase, tripping halfway but regaining his stride and not stopping until he got to the top and began pounding on the door and shouting to be let out, not knowing that anyone who had been outside had already left and that he had managed to trigger the silent alarm connected to UEO headquarters.  
  
* * * Lucas looked up to the hatchway, which was becoming increasingly closer and closer as he climbed the rope ladder that had been thrown down shortly after the man had jumped down. You would think that with a ship built entirely of wood they would be able to manage just one real ladder, the kind that didn't twist and turn every time you tried to take a step up it. He was only about halfway up it now and had already nearly fallen off it twice. Looking down to remind himself why he was on the thing in the first place, he saw the laughing face of the man with the gun standing on the floor below. Seeing the man he quickly turned in an attempt to continue climbing and hopefully reach the top as soon as possible, of course in keeping with the run of bad luck he seemed to be having that day the ladder twisted again making him miss the step and put his foot straight through to the other side. Loosing his grip of the rope he fell backwards and would have ended up right back on the ground again if it wasn't for the fact that he had managed to hook his leg around the step he had missed and was now hanging upside down almost face-to-face with the man who now seemed to be in hysterics at his little mishap. Lucas lifted his head up to look at the hatch where he found that there was now a crowd of faces staring back at him and laughing almost as hard as the man below. Looking on the bright side, at least he had avoided falling again, which was something that seemed to be happening a lot recently. The bright side unfortunately faded though as he soon realised that the only way out of his current position was in fact to move his leg and drop down to the floor, which given the fact he was upside down now meant that even though he wouldn't be falling as far as before, he would be landing head first. Thinking over his situation he almost wanted to laugh at himself. He couldn't believe his own stupidity on this one. No wonder they were laughing at him, he looked ridiculous - high IQ, no common sense whatsoever - at this rate he wouldn't be surprised to land flat on his face and look up to watch as the cartoon coyote dropped a safe on his head. It really didn't seem that farfetched at this moment in time given everything else he had seen already.  
  
"Alright, alright, that's enough. Just get him up here."  
  
This order silenced the crowd above and he looked up to see another man climb down the ladder and grab his free leg, then begin climbing back up, dragging Lucas behind him so that he hit his head on every step of the ladder as they went. On second thoughts maybe falling back down would have been less embarrassing, as he now found himself on the other side of the decking and in bright daylight, but still upside down and in front of a crowd of at least three hundred people, nearly all men from what he could see. The man then dropped him onto the decking where he decided it best to stay for the moment. Lying on his back he looked up to see the crowd part and be replaced by a man in a red, black and gold uniform with a curly moustache, oversized black wig and a ludicrous feathery hat.  
  
"So I see you decided to join us then, heard you had some problems with the ladder." He said laughing and in turn sparking off laughter amongst the rest of the crowd. All fell silent again as the man stopped and leaned over Lucas.  
  
"Are you planning on getting up any time today or do I have to use you as my new carpet? Come on boy you should be cowering in fear by now, surrounded by hundreds of pirates who all want to kill you. You could at least have the decency to try and fight me, I thought that was what that Peter was teaching all you idiotic little Lost Boys these days."  
  
Pirates?! Lucas jumped up quickly to his feet and stood in front of the man, only to have two other men grab him and tie his hands together at the front so that he could see the very strong piece of old rope they had used and know he had no chance of removing it.  
  
"Look, I don't know who you are or why you want to kill me but I'm not planning to fight you any time soon so this really isn't necessary. I don't know anyone named Peter or any 'idiotic little lost boys' for that matter. "  
  
The man leaned in close to him so that their faces were almost touching, and mumbled his next words so that no one else could hear.  
  
"You're lying to me boy, of course you know who I am."  
  
At Lucas's negative headshake he continued.  
  
"Does the name Hook not ring any bells? Captain Hook? Sworn enemy of all children everywhere, living legend Captain James Hook?" Lucas continued to shake his head no. "How about Peter Pan? The one who gave Hook the hook? Leader of the Lost Boys?" Lucas replied with a simple "sorry" to which the Captain slowly brought up his arm to Lucas's face revealing the large silver hook where his hand should have been. Lucas pulled away fast, never taking his eyes off the hook but showing a look that seemed to be a cross between fear and interest. The Captain saw this and abruptly turned around and began walking away from Lucas. Now he started to shout.  
  
"You say you've brought me a lost boy! A hostage in the fight against Peter Pan and you bring me this!" He gestured towards Lucas. "Boy doesn't even know what one is and further more he insults me by not knowing who I am and someone is going to pay, starting with you." He looked at Lucas and smiled. "Kill him."  
  
Lucas's head snapped up at this comment and he soon felt the cold metal end of a gun on the back of his head. Being held still by four of the men he was unable to move as he watched the Captain walk swiftly away form him. He heard the safety click and did the only thing he could, shut his eyes and wait for the inevitable. He heard the loud bang of the gun as it went off but was surprised to find that he hadn't felt anything. Opening one eye slowly to check what was going on he realised that it was safe to relax for the moment as he saw the scene before him. The Captain had stopped walking and now stood still with his back to Lucas, and a smoking bullet hole right through the side of his wig. Just in front of Lucas was a little gold fairy flapping around holding a gun in one hand and a very scared looking man in the other. As the Captain turned to face them again, she let go of the man who scurried off to become just another face in the crowd.  
  
"Well well well, if it isn't our favourite little fairy Ms. Bell, I see you've come to interfere again, now if you don't mind I have prisoners to execute."  
  
"This is wrong and you know it, you can't just shoot him for no reason, what's he done to you? Nothing that's what, so just let him go."  
  
"Why, I wonder, is this one so important to you, he isn't one of your precious Lost Boys."  
  
"Maybe not, but I've already had to rescue him from one pirate ship today and I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do it again. Mind you, this is nothing compared to the one he was living on, that thing travelled under the water you know, and the pirates - way stronger and better than this lot could ever be."  
  
As the Captain turned his back to them to think about what he had just been told, Lucas decided it was about time he had a little chat with the fairy.  
  
"Hey!" He whispered, and she flew over to him. "What do you think you're doing? Why did you tell him all that stuff about the ship? I thought you were trying to help but at this rate you're just going to get me killed faster!"  
  
"Just trust me okay, I know what I'm doing."  
  
"Yeah and I've heard that one before - right before I ended up here. Seriously, are you trying to get me killed cos you're going the right way if you are."  
  
"Of course not.well not really."  
  
"What's do you mean not really?!"  
  
There had been plenty of pirates listening in on their conversation but fortunately none of them seemed to really comprehend what they had heard. The Captain then turned back to face them, smiling to his second in command who stood next to him.  
  
"I do believe I have a solution that will suit the both of us." He talked slowly to the fairy, relishing the moment. "I won't shoot him and neither will anyone else here, which is exactly what you wanted. Of course he is still my prisoner and so I have decided that as he is, like you say from a pirate ship, he deserves nothing better than a pirates death. Mr. Smee, fetch the plank."  
  
"Pirate's death! What so you get me out of being shot just to get me killed in a different way! Yeah, thanks so much I'm really glad I trusted you!" Lucas didn't really know what a pirate death was but he wasn't about to go out without a fight. All the events of the day were catching up with him and he had a lot of built-up anger to take out on someone, starting with the fairy and hopefully ending with the Captain. He finally understood as he saw that 'the plank' was actually a large wooden board that had now been fixed to the side of the ship so that it stuck out over the water. The crowd in front had parted leaving a clear path onto it. The pirates surrounding him then pulled out swords, blocking any escape route he may have had and forcing him out onto the centre of the plank, leaving him standing over the open water. One of the men had even gone out in front of him and stood at the far end of the plank with his sword pointing in Lucas's back to make sure he didn't try and jump off to early, so all hopes of swimming to safety had now disappeared too. Seeing the look of fear on Lucas's face the Captain decided to have one final laugh at the boy. With the fairy hovering over his shoulder he strode out onto the plank slightly, getting just close enough so that he could be heard.  
  
"What, no objections from the fairy? Now there's a first." He said, laughing.  
  
"No point wasting my time, I know you won't do it anyway. I think you're scared that if you kill him then the pirates I took him from will come looking for you, otherwise you would have done it already. You're a coward Captain Hook, always have been always will be."  
  
Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing, she was encouraging him! She was tricking the Captain into killing him faster and in a much less desirable way just like she had tricked him into trusting her, and now it was time to make his move if he was ever planning to escape.  
  
"Enough! No one calls the legendary Captain James Hook a coward and gets away with it. I want this fairy removed permanently and as for him, tie his feet together and throw him over! I want him dead and I want it now!"  
  
And with that the Captain turned to head off the plank and back onto the ship. A rope was thrown to the man behind Lucas, who put down his sword and knelt down to begin tying it. Seeing this window of opportunity, Lucas leapt forward into the Captain causing him to spin around quickly, throwing his arms up to keep his balance. Lucas had intended to knock him into the water but instead managed to catch the ropes around his hands on the silver hook, so when the Captain pulled backwards the hook actually detached itself from his arm where it had previously been screwed onto. Lucas, now seeing the look of pure anger and hatred in the Captain's eyes and looking down at the hook still attached to the rope on his wrists realised he had just made the situation ten times worse and began to edge backwards.  
  
"Get him! I want that hook back NOW!"  
  
But before any of them could move Lucas had stepped back so far that the rope that had been loosely rapped around one leg was now tangled around both and he fell backwards into the man at the end of the plank, sending them both falling into the ocean below. No matter how much he tried to kick off the rope it was now too tangled to move and he couldn't find any way to swim up to the surface, so holding his breath he struggled against the pull of the water as he watched the other man begin to swim away and all objects on the surface including the bright glow of the fairy become more blurred and distant.  
  
* * * Hours had passed since the crew had settled down, and now all were finally asleep - except one.  
  
"Captain? Are you awake, I think we may have an.er.problem."  
  
"What kind of an er.problem Mr. Krieg?" The Captain replied, only half aware of what he was saying after being rudely awakened by the Lieutenant.  
  
"There's a green haired mermaid waving at us through the aqua-tube."  
  
TBC. 


End file.
